Machine for printing on a longitudinal object revolvable about a longitudinal axis of revolution



Feb. 21, 1961 l E. TlRlTlLLl 2,972,295

MACHINE FOR PRINTING ON A LONGITUDINAL OBJECT REVOLVABLE ABOUT A LONGITUDINAL AXIS 0F REVOLUTION Filed July 17, 1959 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

IRMO E. TIRITILLI Feb. 21, 1961 Filed July 17, 1959 MACHINE FOR PRINTING ON A LONGITUDINAL OBJECT REVOLVABLE ABOUT A LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF REVOLUTION l E. TlRlTILLl 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 4 v 283 28/4 26 2;, 3D i H (A. 3/ I 28 I a) H6. 4

44 f 25 a. 45 /'45 3 in. m 4g INVENTOR.

"48 IRMO E. TIRITILLI Feb. 21, 1961 l. E. TlRlTlLLl 2,972,295

MACHINE FOR PRINTING ON A LONGITUDINAL OBJECT REVOLVABLE ABOUT A LONGITUDINAL AXIS 0F REVOLUTION Flled July 17, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 7

INVEN TOR.

IRMO E. TIRITILLI MACHINE FOR PRENTING N A LONGITUDINAL OBJECT REVOLVABLE ABOUT A LONGITUDI- NAL AXES 0F REVOLUTION Irmo E. Tiritilli, 10743 Cranks Road, Culver City, Calif.

Filed July 17, 1959, Ser. No. 827,827

8 Claims. (Cl. 101-40) The present invention consists of an improved machine for printing on a longitudinal object which may be a cylindrical object or other regularly shaped object disposed about a longitudinal axis of revolution and having a printable surface portion spaced from the longitudinal axis of revolution by a radius perpendicular to the printable surface portion and also to the axis of revolution. One specific preferred form of the invention takes a form adapted to imprint pens, pencils, or other similar articles with any desired printing or marking and to do so in a manner such that the printing or marking will be clear and legible and of substantially uniform clarity.

It should be noted that the present invention is an improvement over the invention comprising the subject matter of my US. Patent No. 2,761,380, patented on September 4, 1956, and, throughout this application, in order to avoid unnecessary repetition of material previously disclosed in detail in my said patent, brief reference will be made thereto and it should be clearly understood that such portions of the present application are to be construed in the light of the disclosure made in my said granted patent. This is particularly true in re the apparatus for printing multiple colors, which is disclosed in my said granted patent, but which is not shown in the drawings of the present application, nor described in detail, although it is intended that the present invention include and comprehend apparatus of the characterdisclosed in singular form in the present application and in multiple form in my said granted patent to provide for such multiple printing.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved machine of the character described above, that holds a printable object such as a pencil, pen, or the like, although not so limited, securely against slipping, turning, or getting out of proper position while receiving the imprint so that the same will be clear and legible and so that the marks or letters comprising same will be of uniform clarity.

It is a further object to provide an improved machine of the type set forth above, wherein the longitudinal revolvable object to receive the imprint is positively rotatably held in such position that the imprint will appear axially thereof, and wherein the imprint may be of one or more colors, if desired.

It is a further object to provide an improved machine of the type set forth above, which may be either manually operated or machine operated and which is capable of printing on longitudinal objects of the character described above, such as pens, pencils, or the like, although not specifically so limited, and which carry clips adjacent one end, without disturbing or requiring removal of the clips during the imprinting operation.

It is a further object to provide an improved machine of the character set forth above which will print on cylindrical, triangular, or other regularly shaped objects disposed in a regular manner around a longitudinal axis of revolution and bearing one or more printable portions spaced from the longitudinal axis of revolution by a 2,972,295 Patented Feb. 21, 1961 radius substantially perpendicular thereto and to the axis of revolution. In other words, the present improved machine is not limited to imprinting circular objects only, but may print on longitudinal objects of a variety of cross-sectional shapes and configurations.

It is a further object to provide an improved machine of the character set forth above, which saves labor and expedites production, thereby reducing the per-unit 'cost of imprinting a number of objects.

it is a further object to provide an improved machine of the character set forth above, which is of such simple, foolproof, low-cost construction as to facilitate extremely low-cost manufacture thereof and to thus greatly reduce the per-unit cost of objects imprinted by such low-cost machinery.

Further objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study hereof.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, two exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying drawings, and are described in detail hereinafter.

Pig. 1 is a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of the present invention with the carriage in an intermediate position and with the inking roller shown in contact with the upper surface of the inking disc. This is a position in which the carriage might be found prior to manual movement thereof toward the right so as to move the inked roller over the printing cut or indicia means. This is also a position in which the carriage might be found after completion of the indicia ink operation just described and after the manual return of the carriage toward the left, which would normally be followed by even further movement of the carriage means toward the left so as to cause the object feeder to roll the pen over the inked printing cut or indicia means for effectively and clearly and legibly imprinting same.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in vertical section and partly in end elevation, taken in the direction of the arrows 22 of Fig. 1 and clearly shows the resiliently downwardly biased object feeder and resiliently upwardly biased longitudinal rail means carrying the printing out or indicia meansand shows both of same in operative relationship with respect to a pen.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in vertical section and partly in elevation, taken in the direction of the arrows 3-3 of Fig. 2. This view shows the operation of the object feeder and the longitudinal rail means illustrated in Fig. 2 and shows, in broken lines, a position which the pen will assume during the course of being resiliently rolled along the longitudinal rail means, which will be allowed by reason of the resilient mounting thereof.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the lever handle means, the lower vertically resiliently adjustable arm and the two longitudinally spaced idler rollers in broken lines in the normal engaged position, such as is shown in solid lines in Fig. 3, and showing, in solid lines in Fig. 4, said parts after forced downward deflection of the lever handle means, which has the effect of raising the lower vertically 'resiliently adjustable arm and the two longitudinally spaced idler rollers to a degree such as to facilitate insertion of the pen into the engaged position shown in Fig. 3 or to facilitate removal of the pen from said engaged position; it being understood that upon release of the left end of the lever handle, the resilient action of the springs will cause the entire object feeder to return to the fully engaged position shown in partially broken away, of the resiliently mounted longitudinal rail means which carries the indicia means or printing cut in a longitudinally adjustable manner there- Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view :showing a slightly modified form of the socket, which receives the cap end of a pen, or the like, and which, in this modified form of the invention, includes a keying slot means adapted to receive therein the clip of the pen whereby to positively key the pen to the socket means and the pinion and rack so that they all rotate simultaneously without any relative slippage whatsoever therebetween. This makes possible effective printing in a desired position on any one of the substantially flat surfaces of the pen cap or pen body.

Fig. '7 is an enlarged perspective view of one removable or interchangeable socket, shown alone consisting ofa form wherein the socket is of substantially tapered triangular cross-section so as to, in effect, be appropriately keyed for reception and non-rotative engagement with a correspondingly tapered and shaped end of a pen, pencil, or other similar longitudinal object at either end thereof.

In the specific improved form of the invention illustrated, a table is indicated generally at 11 and has a substantially, horizontal top surface member 12, which in turn is carried by a longitudinal frame, indicated generally at 13, and including two longitudinal substantially parallel side members 13A and 13B.

The invention also includes a carriage, one form of 'which is indicated generally at 14, which is longitudinally -slidably movable upon the frame 13 for movement between opposite ends thereof. In the specific example illustrated, this longitudinal slidable mounting of the carriage 14 on the frame 13 is accomplished by reason of outwardly directed flanges 15A and 15B carried by the top of the side members 13A and 13B of the frame .13, which flanges 15A and 15B are received in corresponding recesses 16A and 16B of the two parallel side grooved members 17A and 173 which are fastened together by cross members 18 and 19 to form one end portion of the carriage 14. It should also be noted that the top surfaces of fianges 15A and 15B carry corresponding upwardly directed longitudinal tracks 19A and 19B upon which rest receiving rollers or wheels 20A and 203 which are mounted on a cross shaft 21 fixed at each end as indicated at 22A and 22B to the corresponding parallel side members 17A and 17B; the arrangement being such that the'rollers or wheels 20A and 20B roll along the tracks 19A and 19B and thus effectively carry the weight of the carriage 14, while the .entire carriage is retained in slidable position with respect to the frame 13 by the engagement of the groove 16A with the flange 15A and the groove 16B with the flange 15B.

It should be noted that the interconnecting cross member 18 is provided with an upstanding actuating handle 23, which may be manually grasped by an operator of the machine for longitudinal reciprocation of the carriage 14 along the frame 13 from one end thereof to the other :end thereof and vice versa for purposes which will be described more fully hereinafter.

The invention also includes an object feeder, one form of which is indicated generally at 24, which is adapted to feed a printable longitudinal object which is revolvable around a longitudinal axis of revolution and which has at least one printable surface portion spaced from the longitudinal axis of revolution by a radius perpendicular to said printable surface portion and to said axis of revolution. One such object might be a pen; another might be a pencil, or the like. However, it should be particularly noted that the invention is not limited to cylindrical objects, but may imprint triangular objects having its mass regularly disposed around a longitudinal axis of revolution and meeting the definition set forth above.

In the specific example illustrated, the object feeder indicated generally at 24 is secured to one end of the carriage 14 and includes an upper arm 26 fastened as indicated at 27 to the cross member 19 of the carriage 14, and a lower arm 28 which is substantially parallel to and positioned below the upper arm 26 and is vertically resiliently adjustably secured in said position by adjusting screws 29 having lower ends fastened to the lower arm 23 and having shaft portions 28A freely movable through holes 23B in the upper arm 26, with the springs 30 resiliently biasing the lower arm 28 downwardly, and further being provided with two idler rollers or wheels 31 spaced longitudinally along the lower arm 28 for partial top encompassing resiliently downwardly directed engagement with the printable object, which in the example illustrated takes the form of the triangular pen 25, at a first location, indicated generally at 32 spaced from the first end 33 of the pen. It should be noted that the engagement of the rollers 31 above the pen 25 is such that the clip 34 is in a position such that it will not strike or impinge any other portion of the apparatus during the imprinting operation to be described in detail hereinafter.

Said object feeder 24 also includes a tapered socket means, such as is indicated generally at 35, spaced from the idler rollers 31 in a direction transverse to the direction of longitudinal movement of the carriage 14 and adapted to removably receive a second end 36 of the pen 25 therein.

It should also be noted that the invention includes laterally spaced rail means indicated generally at 37 including a first longitudinal rail 38 underlying the first location 32'spaced from the first end 33 of the pen 25 and being in direct underlying spaced opposition to the longitudinally spaced idler rollers 31; said rail means 37 also including a second longitudinal rail 39 parallel to the first longitudinal rail 38 and laterally spaced therefrom and lying under an intermediate portion of the pen 25 adjacent the tapered socket 35, and thus providing, together with the first longitudinal rail 38, the longitudinal rail means indicated generally at 37 along which the pen 25 may be rolled when the carriage 14 and the object feeder 24 are moved along the frame 13; said socket means 35 being provided with a shaft 40 carried by a bearing member 41, which is connected by a member 41A to the cross member 19 of the carriage 14, with the outer .end of the shaft 40 carrying pinion means 42 engaged with a longitudinal rack means 43 carried immediately inside of and extending upwardly from the side member 13A of the frame 13 at the right end thereof; the arrangement being such that movement of the carriage 14 and the object feeder 24 along the frame 13 will cause the pinion 42 to roll along the rack 43 and rotate the tapered socket 35, and thus the pen 25, which is freely allowed by the idler rollers 31 pressing downwardly on the pen 25. This will cause the pen 25 to roll along the longitudinal rail means 37 for imprinting purposes as will be described in detail hereinafter.

The present invention also includes indicia means,

such as is indicated generally at 44, which may take the form of an etched zinc cut or plate, or the like, upwardly directed and fixed in any desired position along the length of the flat member 45 between the rails 38 and 39 by suitable fastening means, such as is indicated at 46, whereby to cause the imprinting of the indicia carried by the printing cut 44 to be placed on a desired surface 7 portion of the pen 25. This may be varied at will by such as the pen shown at 25, hexagonal objects, octag- .onal objects, or, indeed, virtually any longitudinal-object merely adjusting the location of the printing cut or plate 44.

It should also be noted that in the preferred form illustrated, the rail means 37 including the central panel -45 which carries the printing cut 44, is vertically resiliently mounted in a position extending upwardly "from the top surface 12 of the table 11 by means of a base :plate 47 fastened, as indicated at 43, to the top surface 12 of the table 11, with said base plate 47 vertically resiliently carrying the rail means 37 by means of adjustable fastening screws 49 slidable in holes in the panel 45 and springs 50.

The other end of the frame 13 carries inking means, indicated generally at 51, which takes one specific form comprising a rotary inking disc 52 adapted to have ink spread on the upper surface thereof and maintained in a spread and feeding relationship with respect to an inking roller 53 carried by the shaft 21 of the carriage 14 whereby reciprocation of the carriage -14 from the leftward extreme position to the rightward extreme position will effectively carry ink on the inking roller 53 over the printing cut 44 whereby to eifectively'ink same. Subsequent actuation of the carriage 14 in the opposite direction will return the inking roller 53 toward its former position, and further leftward actuation of the carriage 14 will roll the pen 25 along the resiliently mounted rail means 37 and over the printing cut 44 whereby to effectively imprint the pen 25 with the desired markings or letters. It should be noted that the inking disc 52 is provided with ratchet means 54 thereunder, which is intermittently engaged by an operating pawl 55 operated in response to each completereciprocation of the carriage 14, whereby to effectively rotate the inking disc 52 and maintain ink on the surface thereof in properly spread-out flattened condition suitable for being picked up by the roller 53 as it rolls thereover.

In the example illustrated, the frame 13 is provided with a stop 56 for limiting the longitudinal movement of the carriage 14 along the frame 13. Similar stop means may be provided at the other end of the frame, if desired,

It should be noted that, in the specific example illustrated, the object feeder indicated generally at 24 is provided with lever handle means 57 operable downwardly for effectively moving the lower arm 28 and the longitudinally spaced idler rollers 31 carried thereby upwardly (against the action of the springs 30) a small distance away from the spaced underlying rail 38 to a degree just sufficient to facilitate insertion of the pen 25 into the position shown before the imprinting operation and to facilitate removal of the pen 25 from said operative position after the imprinting operation. The degree of movement caused by operation of the lever 57 in order to effect this engaging and disengaging operation of the pen is quite small and may be effected merely by reason of the resiliency of the springs 30.

It should be noted that the apparatus of the present invention may include multiple inking rollers, such as the rollers 53, and multiple inking discs, such as the inking disc 52, and means for causing selective engagement thereof and reciprocation toward a corresponding printing 7 cut or indicia means in a manner such that the various rollers will pass each other during such reciprocation. This may be provided in the general manner set forth in my hereinbefore-identified granted patent, and it is not believed necessary to specifically illustrate and to specifically describe in detail such old structure since it is fully disclosed in my said granted patent.

A slightly modified form of the tapered socket means 35 of the first form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 15 is illustrated in Fig. 6, with corresponding parts being indicated by similar reference numerals, primed. In this modified form, the tapered socket means 35 includes a keying slot means 58 adapted to receive therein the clip 34' of the cap portion 25C of the pen 25', since in this version the cap end 33' of the pen is the one received by the socket means 35'. In other words, in this modification of the invention, the pen 25 is adapted to be received in the opposite direction from the manner in which the pen 25 is received by the tapered socket 35 in the first form of the invention. In this particular modi- 'fieation, this is for the purpose of making it possible to imprint on one of the flat surfaces of the triangularly- ,indicia means, which has been positioned at-a predetermined properly placed location, in exactly the same manner', making perfect printing contact therewith.

it should also be noted that the present invention contemplates the use of replaceable and interchangeable tapered sockets, such as the tapered socket 35 in the first form of the invention and the tapered socket 35 in the second form of the invention, each of which may also have an appropriately keyed receiving socket so as to receive a correspondingly shaped end of a pen, penoil, or the like (this may be either the cap end or the opposite end of the object). One such keyed socket member alone is shown in Fig. 7, with portions corresponding to those described hereinefore being indicated by similar reference numerals, followed by a double prime designation.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. vRather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim:

1. An improved machine for printing on a longitudinal object revolvable around a longitudinal axis of revolution and having a printable surface portion spaced from said longitudinal axis of revolution by a radius substantially perpendicular to said surface portion and said axis of revolution, comprising: a table having a substantially horizontal top surface; a longitudinal frame carrying said table; a carriage longitudinally slidably movably mounted upon said frame for movement between opposite ends thereof; an object feeder for a printable longitudinal object revolvable around a longitudinal axis of revolution and having a printable surface portion spaced from said longitudinal axis of revolution by a radius substantially perpendicular to said printable surface portion and said axis of revolution, said object feeder being secured to said carriage and movable longitudinally of said frame therewith, said object feeder including an upper arm and a lower arm resiliently vertically adjustably secured below said upper arm and being provided with two idler rollers spaced longitudinally along said lower arm for partial top encompassing resiliently downwardly biased engagement with the printable longitudinal object at a first location spaced from a first end thereof, a socket means spaced from said idler rollers in a direction transverse to the direction of longitudinal movement of said carriage and adapted to removably receive a second end of the printable longitudinal object therein and to non-rotatively engage and hold same, longitudinal rail means including a first longitudinal rail underlying the first location laterally spaced from the first end of the printable longitudinal object in opposition to the longitudinally spaced idler rollers and including a second longitudinal rail laterally spaced from said first longitudinal rail and lying under an intermediate portion of the printable longitudinal object adjacent the socket means and effectively providing the longitudinal rail means along which the printable longitudinal object may be rolled when the carriage means 'andlthe object feeder are moved along the frame, said socket means-being provided with pinion means and said frame being provided with pinion means and said frame being provided with racks means engaged by said pinion means for rotating said socket means and the printable longitudinal object engaged thereby along said rail means; and indicia means between said rails in the path of rolling movement of an intermediate portion of said longitudinal printable object for printing upon a printable surface portion thereof markings corresponding to the indicia means as said longitudinal printable obiect is rolled thereof.

2. A machine of the character defined in claim 1, wherein said longitudinal rail means is resiliently vertically abjustably mounted between said idler rollers and the engaged pinion and rack means.

3. A machine of the character defined in claim 1, including lever handle means connected to said object feeder and operable for forcibly moving said longitudinally spaced idler rollers upwardly away from the spacedly underlying longitudinal rail to facilitate insertion of a longitudinal printable object therebetween before imprinting and removal of said object therefrom after printing.

4. A machine of the character defined in claim 1, including means for adjustably mounting said indicia means between said longitudinal rails.

5. A machine of the character defined in claim 1, including ink supply means carried by said frame; and an inking roller carried by said carriage and movable over and in contact with said ink supply mean for applying ink to said roller and then movable over and in contact with said indicia means for inking same.

6. A machine of the character defined in claim 1, including inking disc means carried by said frame; an inking roller carried by said carriage and movable over and in contact with said inking disc means for applying ink to said roller and then movable over and in contact with said indicia means for inking same; and intermittently operated ratchet means for rotating and spreading ink on said inking disc means operable in response to reciprocation of said carriage.

7. An improved machine for printing on a longitudinal object revolvable around a longitudinal axis of revolution and having a printable surface portion spaced from said longitudinal axis of revolution by a radius substantially perpendicular to said surface portion and said axis of revolution, comprising: a table having a substantially horizontal top surface; a longitudinal frame including transversely spaced longitudinal side members carrying said top surface of said table therebetween and including a pair of laterally spaced longitudinal tracks; a carriage including laterally spaced rollers longitudinally slidably movable upon said longitudinal tracks of said frame for movement between opposite ends thereof; an object feeder for a printable longitudinal object revolvable around a longitudinal axis of revolution and having a printable surface portion spaced from said longitudinal axis of revolu- 8 'tion by a radius substantially perpendicular to said printable surface portion and said axis of revolution, said object feeder being secured to one end of said carriage and movable longitudinally of said frame therewith, said object feeder including an upper arm and a lower arm resiliently vertically adjustably secured below said upper arm and being provided with two idler rollers spaced longitudinally along said lower arm for partial top encompassing resiliently downwardly biased engagement with the printable longitudinal object at a first location spaced from a first end thereof, a tapered socket means spaced from said idler rollers in a direction transverse to the direction of longitudinal movement of said carriage and adapted to removably receive a second end of the printable longitudinal object therein and to non-rotatively engage and hold same, longitudinal rail mean including a first longitudinal rail underlying the first location laterally spaced from the first end of the printable longitudinal object in opposition to the longitudinally spaced idler rollers and including a second longitudinal rail laterally spaced from said first longitudinal rail and lying under an intermediate portion of the printable longitudinal object adjacent the socket means and effectively providing the longitudinal rail means along which the printable longitudinal object may be rolled when the carriage means and the object feeder are moved along the frame, said socket means being provided with pinion mean and said frame being provided with rack means engaged by said pinion means for rotating said socket means and the printable longitudinal object engaged thereby along said rail means; indicia means between said rails in the path of rolling movement of an intermediate portion of said longitudinal printable object for printing upon a printable surface portion thereof markings corresponding to the indicia means as said longitudinal printable object is rolled thereof, said longitudinal rail means being resiliently vertically adjustably mounted extending upwardly from said top surface of said table between said idler rollers of said object feeder and the engaged pinion and rack means; lever handle means connected to said object feeder and operable for forcibly moving said longitudinally spaced idler rollers upwardly away from the spacedly underlying longitudinal rail to facilitate insertion of a longitudinal printable object therebetween before imprinting and removal of said object therefrom after imprinting; and means for longitudinally adjustably mounting said indicia means between said longitudinal rails.

8. A machine of the character defined in claim 7, including inking disc means carried by said frame; an inking roller carried by said carriage and movable over and in contact with said inking disc means for applying ink to said roller and then movable over and in contact with said indicia means for inking same; and intermittently operated ratchet means for rotating and spreading ink on said inking disc means operable in response to reciprocation of said carriage.

No references cited. 

